The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is a contest in which college students build devices to complete a simple task in a minimum of twenty steps in the style of American cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Local contests are held at various universities throughout the United States, and local winners are eligible to compete in the national contest.

Teams of college students arrive at the competition with a tabletop Rube Goldberg machine designed to accomplish the task of the year. The machine must use at least twenty steps and complete the task within two minutes. Students typically choose a theme, often relating to popular films or historical periods.

Sixty percent of the score is based on the machine's ability to finish the task in two out of three attempts. The remaining forty percent of the score comes from the judges' general impressions of the team's theme, teamwork, and "Goldberg spirit". If the machine malfunctions, team members are permitted to manually guide it to the next step; a penalty is assessed for each intervention.

The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest originated at Purdue University in 1949 as a competition between Theta Tau and Triangle fraternities, and it was held annually until 1956. Phi Chapter of Theta Tau revived the contest in 1983 as a competition open to all Purdue students. In 1989, the Theta Tau Rube Machine Contest became a national competition held at Purdue University in March each year with participation by winning entries from local competitions sponsored by Theta Tau Chapters across the nation. The national contest has gained much coverage by the press and television media. Past winners of the contest have made appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The Machine Contest is the subject of the feature documentary Mousetrap to Mars.

The 1989 national contest had the task of sharpening a pencil in more than 25 steps. The first national contest winners were from the School of Technology named Watch-N-Ponder, led by Jeff Cottingham. Their machine had as a theme a Distressed Purdue Student with a Broken Pencil about to take a test. Their machine completed the task in 37 steps which featured a large Panic Button- that started the machine, a Purdue Student, Purdue Pete dominos, Purdue Pete crushing the IU symbol, color changing water, a small truck loading dock, a plotter writing out "RUBE GOLDBERG" with a pencil, and finally Purdue Pete chopping down a tree which went into a Saw Mill to make a pencil for the Purdue Student. It was described by the Judges as having music, drama, and timely sound effects that made the audience cheer. The team made a video special for Newtons Apple show that year as well as a commercial for the United Way campaign. Kathleen Sullivan and Harry Smith interviewed Jeff Cottingham on Good Morning America, promoting Purdue, Theta Tau, the School of Technology, and the hard work by all the team members. University of Wisconsin and the University of Detroit were the two other competitors that year and finished second and third respectively.

The 1990 national contest had the task of screwing and sealing the lid on a Ball canning jar in 20 or more steps. The National championship team, Team Technology, was from Purdue University and included: Matt Garbarino, Todd Henry, Phil Santos, Dave Kovaleski, Jerri Keller, and Bryan Sower. The theme for Team Technology's machine was "Having a Ball" and took a total of 42 steps to complete the required tasks.

The 2007 national contest had the task of juicing an orange into a pitcher and pouring the pitcher into a cup in 20 or more steps. It was won by a team from Ferris State University, located in Big Rapids, MI, with a toy factory themed machine. Purdue placed second with a James Bond-themed machine.

The winner for 2008 was the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers (PSPE) Rube Goldberg Team from Purdue University. This was their third win in the past four years.[1] The team included 17 members from different fields of engineering and aviation and was led by Captain Drew Wischer and by Assistant Captains, Zach Umperovitch and Greg Bauman.

The task for the 2011 contest was to "Water a Plant". The National Contest was held at Purdue University on March 26, 2011 and had 11 teams in attendance. The 11 teams represented 10 states, 9 universities and 2 community colleges.

Jennifer George, Legacy Director of Rube Goldberg, Inc and granddaughter of Rube Goldberg was also in attendance. Ms George also announced the task for the 2012 contest which will be to "Blow Up and Pop a Balloon" with the National Contest being held again at Purdue University in March 2012

The 2012 task was inflating and popping a balloon. St. Olaf College defeated seven other universities to take the national title held at Purdue University on March 31, 2012. These teams included, University of Arizona, Texas A&M, University of Texas, Purdue University, and Penn State.

Purdue University placed second while winning the People's Choice Award for a 300-step machine that smashed its own Guinness World Record for the machine with the most steps. The final step, an accordion arm that popped the balloon, was named the most Rube-like step in the competition.

Penn State claimed third place with their food themed machine.

First year team, University of Arizona and their bathroom themed machine won the legacy award, given to the team whose machine best incorporates humor with critical thinking.

Jennifer George, Legacy Director of Rube Goldberg, Inc and granddaughter of Rube Goldberg, once again announced the task for the 2013 contest which will be to "Hammer a Nail".